Preparing for the InfraGuard Keynote I have been digging in to criminal psychology and specifically the concept of Opportunity. If you’ve heard me speak recently this year you’ve been exposed to the concept as I’ve applied it to online crime.

Rutger’s School of Criminal Justice professors Marcus Felson and Ronald V. Clarke developed Ten Principles of Opportunity and Crime which describes how opportunities, or vulnerabilities, are the root cause of crime. I’ve highlighted the last two of their ten principles below. I’d welcome those in the cyber security industry and seeking to safeguard the sensitive data (private or IP) to read these with an open mind. I believe they expose an incorrect assumption and an opportunity for approaching cybersecurity differently.

Principle 9 is reducing opportunities does not usually displace crime. Crime displacement means that by blocking crime at one facility, security measures will force crime to another, less hardened facility. While displacement does occur, it is not absolute.

Finally, principle 10 is focused opportunity reduction can produce wider declines in crime. This is the concept of diffusion of benefits. Diffusion is a process where increased security measures at one location may also benefit neighboring facilities.